COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

B+| RANK: 6TH THE BLUE JACKETS STILL have one of the NHL’s deepest talent pipelines, but they’re also leaning on a core group of youngsters they’ve drafted and developed. Already leading the charge in the NHL are forwards Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson, Dmitri Voronkov, Cole Sillinger, Luca Del Bel Belluz, Mikael Pyyhtia and Yegor Chinakhov, along with defensemen Denton Mateychuk and Jake Christiansen. Plus, goalie Jet Greaves also shone when recalled from Cleveland, who remain one of the AHL’s better teams despite Mateychuk and Del Bel Belluz being called up to Columbus mid-season. 1 DENTON MATEYCHUK D, 20, 5-11, 185 Cleveland (AHL) 27–9–16–25–10 2022 draft, 12th overall OVERALL 27 Mateychuk impressed in a second consecutive pre-season, but the Blue Jackets’ defensive depth didn’t leave a spot open for him. He didn’t complain, instead going to Cleveland…